Top Essays USB Drive

This USB drive contains 100 of the top This I Believe audio broadcasts of the last ten years, plus some favorites from Edward R. Murrow's radio series of the 1950s. It's perfect for personal or classroom use! Click here to learn more.

I believe that difficulties in life are not given to punish people but to make them stronger. Every problem I have ever had to deal with has taught me something about myself and the way the world works. From the smallest problem to the biggest ones, the ones that had such a big effect on my life that it has never gone away. I have a fear of not having control, not being able to make my own decisions and not being able to find a reason why something happened. The hardest experience I’ve ever dealt with happened when I as eight.

My knowledge of the problem started with me waking up one morning hearing rustling and talking downstairs. I decided to investigate what was going on. I was only a mere 2nd grader and oblivious to the world around me. As I took the turn around the wall I thought to myself, in a few weeks I won’t have to do this. My room in our new house was right by the stairs so I wouldn’t have to make the few extra steps that I am right now. As I began to walk down the stairs a tremendous feeling of terror and fear rushed through my body. The sight still haunts me. Before me were of seven Massachusetts State Police and two Texas Rangers putting my dad in the back of an unmarked police car. I had no idea what was going on and why it was happening. One of the state troopers saw me and put me back upstairs and told me everything was fine, but he lied, everything wasn’t fine.

Later I learned what all had happened. My dad was making such a huge effect on power in the plastics industry. He was targeted and was run out of business while being sued for patent infringement. Throughout the law suit we were not allowed to bring in a single piece of evidence. The list of problems goes on and on. We lost everything; the new house was taken through loop in the real estate contract, the business was bankrupted and my family was a wreck. We were forced to go to Nebraska so my dad could work with his brother. The problem followed us and was pushed to the point to my dad being on a Con-air flight and we weren’t told where he was. In a civil lawsuit there is no jail time.

Yes all of these problems has caused a lot of pain and problems, but it has also made my family grow stronger and closer. I’m more mature because of it. I can now deal with problems that would stop most people in their tracks. When problems come to me I don’t freak out because nothing can really scare me as much as that situation. I now have a new calm when faced with problems. I believe if something doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger.

Essay of the Week

On August 28, 1963, Benita Porter went with her mother to attend the March on Washington. It was during Dr. King’s spellbinding message of hope, love, and the universality of mankind that Ms. Porter was inspired by the belief that words—her own words—could arouse passion, change minds, and bring about social change. Click here to read her essay.

What Students Believe

Throughout the school year, young people around the world write statements of belief as a classroom exercise. And thousands of those students have submitted their essays to our series. Click here to read a sampling of what young people believe.